Thursday, December 30, 2010

Under the Wire - Year-End Finishing

Well, it's been a couple of weeks since I posted anything - I had the damn flu the week before Christmas (first time in 35 years - and for the record, it sucked), so I lost a whole week of everything - no work, no stitching, no nothing. AND I wasn't done Christmas-ing, so was forced to go out on Christmas Eve to finish, and half-ass wrapped everything. But Christmas was had, and boys are happy for the time being. I even have the Christmas stuff down and put away already - that was when I was finally feeling more human day before yesterday.
So, Christmas Day, I felt well enough to pick up a needle, and on Boxing Day, I finished Christmas Mandala!! And now I am working on Father Winter again, hoping to get it done shortly.

The boys and I went out yesterday - gift cards were burning holes in our pockets, so off to Best Buy for even more stuff - I came home with CDs and a laptop cooling stand, and the Big Kid came home with a pile of zombie flicks, because George A. Romero is still paying his defense bill.... Little Kid is full-on geek now - he has WoW discs, and his own account, to go with his new big-ass Tb computer :) No more sharing with his brother.
So as soon as they got their BB fix, and then I got a Bahama Breeze fix, I drug them to JoAnn's, looking for fabric for the Christmas Mandala - I found a couple at HL that just didn't get it - and Natalie said she got her Perfect Fabric at JoAnn's, so I made the drive to go see what I could see. Surprisingly enough, I found MORE of the Perfect Fabric, so yes, I copied Natalie's almost EXACTLY :) Thanks for the inspiration, Natalie - it came out GREAT, if I do say so myself :)
And today, I spent all afternoon stretching 4 pieces for frames. I ordered 3 new ones, for Boo! Club, 6 Bats & A Witches Hat, and BoINK, and had one from last years still sitting here, needing done, for my RR finish, Lavender Path.

The one for BoINK came with the mats reversed, so I cannot finish this one up yet - I have the corrected ones coming, and when it gets here, I will then decide which one I like better; it's not bad now, but not what I pictured, so I definitely want to see what I had planned on getting. Here it is without glass (picking it up tomorrow at HL):

Edited to add: THIS IS THE CORRECTED MATTING, now appearing as I had envisioned. THIS ONE is the keeper :) And yes, I did clean the glass after I took this picture, and no, I didn't take the glass out before I took the new picture because it was a bitch to get clean the first time....

And here is 6 Bats - this came out perfect (aside from my stretching - I just couldn't obsess over it any more, which is why I should pay someone exorbitant amounts of money to do this for me):

And Lavender Path - I am not going to be able to get glass into this metal frame, so may be looking for a piece of Mylar or something, or this will be ruined in short order, here in the house of smoke & animals...:

And finally, Boo! Club, again in a metal frame, but this one's deeper than the one LP is in, so glass should fit, HOPEFULLY without ripping the damn buttons off, again :(

I think I went through about 300 straight pins today, and considering how many I took out & put back in, multiple times... my fingers are so sore :( AND I used my needlenose pliers half the time...

I only have one more thing to finish - my little IC Ink Spot will be made into a needlebook tomorrow, after I get back from HL with glass, and a piece of felt. I don't have any white felt here - how can that be? So that'll be my last finish for 2010.

Not quite the pile of big finishes I had envisioned for this year (Medieval Town & Knotgarden were supposed to be done - but thanks to my summer slump, they didn't happen). That's what I get for finishing two TWs last year - I set the bar wayyy too high for myself :) Of course, only one of those is framed....

Okay, off to finish eating tonight's lasagna dinner (no picture, I was too hungry to take the time :) ) and then to stitch - if I can stand to hold a needle!

About Me

I grew up in southeastern Ohio. I joined the USAF in 1986, and saw a little bit of the world before my active duty ended in 1990. I am currently living north of Atlanta, GA, with my husband, two boys, and various animals. I am a print junkie - I read everything - I write, and am always making things; I cross stitch and do beaded jewelry currently, but have done stained glass, thrown pottery, various kinds of sewing, and other crafts. By day, I work in manufacturing, as an engineering change analyst and DBA; by night, I am Head Cook and Chief Bottle Washer, and artiste extraordinaire...